Họ Chim Chuối tiêu

幽鹛科yōu-méi kē

雀眉科què-méi kē

ジチメドリ科ji-chime-dori ka

General

Information is from dictionaries and other sources. Comments and corrections welcome. Hover over Green LetteringGreen lettering at this site hides a tool tip with glosses, further explanations, etc. Hover cursor to reveal. to see additional information.

Thai ornithological naming of the pelleornid babblers is based on a mixture of traditional Thai names and translated terms from English:

1. Jungle-babblers (Pellorneum) are called นกจาบดินnók càap-din'earth-weaverbird (bird)'. This is one of many kinds of small bird which take their names from an old name, จาบcàap'weaverbird'. Aside from the weaverbirds themselves (Ploceidae), จาบ càap is also used in the names of the bee-eaters (Meropidae), larks (Alaudidae), finches (Fringillidae), and buntings (Emberizidae).

2. Wren-babblers (Kenopia, Turdinus, and Napothera) are called นกจู๋เต้นnók cŭu têen'dancing very-short bird'. With the break-up of the Timaliidae assemblage, three genera of 'wren-babbler' bearing the same name are now placed in other families: Pnoepyga (Pnoepygidae) and Spelaeornis and Elachura (Timaliidae). (In addition, Elachura has recently been placed in its own separate family.)

3. The fulvettas are known as นกมุ่นรกคอแดงnók mûn-rók'fulvetta (bird)'. This group is now spread across several genera straddling three different families (Pellorneidae, Leiothrichidae, and Sylviidae).

4. Shrike-babblers (Gampsorhynchus) are called นกเสือแมลงnók sĕua-ma-laeeŋ'insect-tiger bird'. This name has been influenced by English and recalls (นก)อีเสือnók ii-sĕua'tigerbird (bird)', the general name for shrikes (Laniidae). With the break-up of the Timaliidae assemblage, the other genus of 'shrike babblers', Pteruthius, is now placed in the Vireonidae.

5. Several genera (Malacopteron, Trichastoma, and Malacocincla) are simply named นกกินแมลงnók kin-ma-laeeŋ'insect-eating bird' or 'insectivorous bird', which is used as a general ornithological equivalent of the English term 'babbler'. กินแมลงkin-ma-laeeŋ is the regular Thai equivalent of English 'insectivorous' and can be used to describe any creature which eats insects.

6. The Large Grass Warbler (genus Graminicola), transferred to the Pellorneidae from the old Sylviidae assemblage, is treated as นกพงnók pʰoŋ'thicket-bird'. This name is currently also used for Acrocephalidae and the members of the genus Locustella (Locustellidae).

Family name

The family name used here, นกกินแมลงนักร้องnók kin-ma-laeeŋ pàa'forest insect-eater (bird)', is based on existing old-style broad divisions drawn within the former Timaliidae assemblage.

The name セッカsekka is used in Japanese for several small warbling birds in the Cisticolidae and Sylviidae (Megalurus and Phylloscopus). The etymology of the name is unknown. It is written with the characters 雪加 (literally 'snow-add') or 雪下 (literally 'snow-below'), which have been assigned on the basis of sound only and do not have any relation to meaning.

In its original sense, 雀 què meant 'sparrow' in Chinese, although from a very early stage it came to be used for the finches. It also occurs in the name 山雀 shān-què 'mountain sparrow/finch', which is the ornithological name for the tits (Paridae). Here, 雀 què is an abbreviation for 山雀 shān-què ('tit'). 雀鹛 què-méi is, in fact, the Chinese equivalent of English 'tit babbler'.

ศิวะsì-wá 'Shiva' from Sanskrit and Pali śiva is the name of a popular Hindu god.

Check-list of Thai Birds Round, Philip D., Bird Conservation Society of Thailand, Bangkok 2008. Draft version downloaded from the site of the Bird Conservation Society of Thailand in 2009 but no longer posted there, an expanded update of the species included in Lekagul & Round 1991